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Five died in March 15 riot near Lhasa - Xinhua
Saturday April 5, 2008 MYT 7:16:28 PM

Five died in March 15 riot near Lhasa - Xinhua

BEIJING (Reuters) - Five people were killed in a riot near Lhasa on March 15, the Xinhua news agency said on Saturday, adding that 16 mostly illiterate Tibetans were formally arrested on Saturday for the violence.

It was not clear whether the five were included in the death toll of 19 that China has given for deadly rioting in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, on March 14. That incident, following days of protest against Chinese rule, has triggered violent confrontations throughout ethnically Tibetan areas.

Rioters destroyed 23 shops, burned a house and two fire engines, and smashed a police car in Deqing town, Dagze county, roughly 25 kilometres east of Lhasa, Xinhua said in an English language report. It did not give the ethnicity of the five dead nor the motivations for the riot.

Under Chinese law, suspects can be detained for some time before being formally arrested.

The suspects were charged with arson and endangering public security, Xinhua said citing procurator Ma Yongqing, adding that most were illiterate or semi-literate and ignorant of the law.

China says 19 people died in the Lhasa violence, when rioters attacked shops run by Han Chinese and Hui Muslims, but representatives of exiled Tibetan leader, the Dalai Lama, say some 140 people have died in the unrest across Tibet and nearby areas.

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